Single and plural gas and air feeding venturi tubes for burner elements of gas fired barbecue grills are known in the prior art. A problem sometimes arises, however, in adapting more or less standard burner elements and their feeder tubes to grills which are varied in their designs and styles, such as those which have post mounted gas controls and those which have panel mounted controls. Accordingly, the principal objective of this invention is to provide a gas burner arrangement which is universally applicable to the largest possible range of gas fired barbecue grills whose design characteristics vary, and is not limited in use to a single grill style or design.
In accordance with the essence of the present invention, an essentially standard type of burner element employed with flexible length adjustable venturi tubes is provided with varying configurations or arrangements of gas/air inlet openings, whereby gas and air feeder venturi tubes can be operatively connected to the burner element at different locations thereon to facilitate arranging the feeder venturi tubes in different use modes dictated by the design construction or style of a particular gas fired grill. Idle inlet openings of the burner element are conveniently covered and sealed during periods of non-use. The gas/air feeder venturi tubes employed with the universal burner element are both flexible and longitudinally extensible and retractable to further enhance the universality of the burner system with respect to grills having differing design characteristics.
A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide a universal gas burner arrangement for barbecue grills characterized by simplicity and economy of construction, convenience of use and reliability of operation in connection with varying grill styles.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible and adjustable feeder venturi tube for universal burner element having an improved and simplified air inlet arrangement.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following description.